Correlation of cytokeratin patterns with histopathology during neoplastic progression in the rat urinary bladder

The discrimination of atypical (premalignant) cells from invasive neoplastic cells in primary bladder lesions is a major diagnostic problem in cytopathology and surgical pathology. We have used an animal model of urinary bladder carcinogenesis to determine the specific changes which occur in the expression of certain cytokeratins (CK) during the progression of lesions from regenerative hyperplasia and carcinoma in situ to transitional cell carcinomas. At sequential time points following exposure of the rat bladder epithelium to N-methyl-N-nitrosourea in vivo, immunohistochemical staining of CKs was evaluated in ethanol-fixed samples from the induced urothelial lesions using commercially available anti-CK mouse monoclonal antibodies. Specific changes were found in the expression of CKs 13, 18, and 19 during the neoplastic progression of induced urothelial lesions in the rat. These changes included the reciprocal loss of expression of CK 19 and the reappearance of CK 18 as malignant tumors developed. Invasive cells also did not express CK 13. Our results, based on the rat model, are similar to those reported by others on CK expression in human bladder tumors. Because these changes in CK expression occurred at specific points in the progression of urothelial lesions, the antibodies utilized in this study may be helpful in predicting the invasive potential of cells present in cytopathological specimens and tissue biopsies from human urothelial lesions.